


Time Stands Still in the Country

by akisazame



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Community: badbadbathhouse, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-02-25
Updated: 2009-02-25
Packaged: 2018-02-24 13:26:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2583044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akisazame/pseuds/akisazame
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kanji spends a winter afternoon with Nanako.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Time Stands Still in the Country

**Author's Note:**

> prompt from badbadbathhouse: "Nanako asks Kanji to watch The Brave Little Toaster with her."

When you skipped school as often as Kanji did, you needed a lot of help with studying. So it was no big surprise that the first-year started to become a regular fixture at the Dojima house on Sundays, coming over to ask Souji for help with math, science, history, literature... pretty much everything. It wasn't that he was stupid, as Souji was quick to remind him every time he got discouraged, but that he had missed a lot and was easily frustrated. So the two of them spent as many free days as they could, between school and club activities and saving the world, sitting across from each other at the Dojimas' kitchen table with books and papers spread out in front of them.

Nanako was usually there as well, being that it was her house and all. She didn't often go visit friends on the weekends, so she would inevitably be hanging around while the two boys studied, either watching something on TV or bringing out her own homework so she could get help from the big kids. If Kanji had to be honest with himself, it was partly Nanako's fault that he kept suggesting the Dojimas' as the location for their study dates; the kid was just so damn cute.

It was for this reason that Kanji wasn't surprised when Nanako opened the door instead of Souji one winter afternoon; she smiled up at him brightly, then looked perplexed. "Ummm... big bro isn't here, Kanji-kun."

Kanji raised a curious eyebrow. He could have sworn that he'd talked to Souji about this after school yesterday; the guy was a social butterfly, sure, but he usually kept his word when he made plans. "We were s'posed to study today," he grumbled, but he quickly forced a smile when he saw the sad look on Nanako's face. "Uh, when d'you think your big bro'll be back?"

Nanako looked thoughtful, then glanced over at the clock. "Hmm, he left about an hour ago. Maybe soon? He didn't say where he was going. He seemed like he was in a hurry." Her face somehow became even brighter, and she reached out to grab Kanji's hand. "You can play with me while you wait! Please?"

Despite the fact that he felt kind of awkward about the whole situation, Kanji couldn't deny a cute little seven-year-old's face. "Sure, Nanako-chan. Whaddya wanna do?" He let her lead him into the sitting room, then sat on the couch when prompted. She disappeared then, running up the stairs as quickly as her little feet would take her, and he could hear her rummaging about somewhere upstairs for a minute or two before she padded back down. She was holding a DVD case in her hand, an expectant look on her face.

Kanji reached out and took the case from her hand. It was an animated movie, but not one he'd ever heard of. "The Brave Little Toaster?"

"Yeah! Dad got it for me at Junes. Will you watch it with me?" She widened her eyes and put on her most winning smile; she'd spent enough time around Kanji by now to know his weaknesses, even if he tried his best not to display them as such.

He looked down at the case again. He had to admit, the movie _did_ look pretty cute. The household appliances on the front cover all had big smiles on their faces, and it seemed so bright and colorful and happy... "Yeah, okay, sure. But just until your big bro gets back. Then I gotta study, okay?"

"Yay!" Nanako squealed. She grabbed the DVD out of Kanji's hands, then opened the case and carefully took the disc out. She was pointedly determined not to touch anything but the edges as she placed it into the DVD player's tray (who the hell taught her to be so cautious? Souji , probably; dude could be anal retentive about his stuff sometimes). Then she hurried back over to the couch so that she could be in a comfortable sitting position before the movie started.

It seemed innocent enough at first, standard children's fare, all bright colors and cheerful music. But Kanji couldn't help but feel sad as the story unfolded. "Poor li'l appliances," he muttered, causing Nanako to glance at him in surprise. "They just wanna be with the guy they like. That ain't so wrong, is it?"

Nanako's tiny brow furled with resolve. "Of course not!"

He hadn't really realized he'd said anything out loud until she replied. "Uh, yeah," he said half-heartedly in response, biting his lip and glancing nervously away.

The afternoon dragged on with no sign of Souji. The movie went on as well, and Kanji found himself thoroughly engrossed. He liked the blanket character best; it reminded him of a blanket he had when he was a kid (his ma probably still had it in a closet somewhere, now that he thought about it... poor thing), and the fact that it looked so soft and fuzzy didn't hurt either. When the movie reached its climax, with all the appliances in mortal peril in the junkyard, Kanji was on the edge of his seat, even more nervous and on-edge about it than Nanako was.

In fact, he was so wrapped up in it that he didn't notice when his eyes started to sting. He also didn't notice when Souji entered the room.

"Kanji? Oh man, I'm sorry, I forgot you were coming. Yosuke called this morning and--" Souji's explanation for his absence was cut short when he realized what his cousin and underclassman friend were doing. "Uh, Kanji? Are you crying because of a kids' movie?"

Kanji turned quickly to face his senpai, awkwardly wiping his eyes with the back of his hand as fast as he could. "N- no! What makes you think that?! I ain't gonna cry at some dumb movie about lamps and sh- er, stuff." He gave a sideways glance at Nanako, who was sitting next to him on the couch, kicking her legs and smiling. How the hell she could be _smiling_ when the toaster almost _died_ just now?! Kanji felt his ears getting red, and he turned to look back at the screen just so he wouldn't see the amusement in Souji's face. "I- I just had somethin' in my eye, is all."

"Uh-huh," Souji replied, stifling the urge to laugh as best he could. "Anyway, sorry to do this, but I just came back because I forgot my phone. Yosuke still needs help at Junes; those part-time girls didn't show again and it's a real mess over there. We can study tomorrow after school if you want?"

The credits were rolling now, so there was no reason for Kanji to keep looking at the screen, but he did it anyway. "Uh, er, yeah, sure."

He couldn't hold back any more; Kanji's pointed determination to stare at the scrolling text on the television made Souji laugh. "See you tomorrow," he managed to choke out before he closed the front door behind him.

Nanako waved at her big bro as he left, then stood up and skipped over to stand in front of Kanji. "I've got another movie if you wanna stay!"

Dammit, he couldn't say no to that face. Besides, it sucked that the poor kid was stuck at home alone most of the time. He was just cheering her up and stuff, it had nothing to do with the fact that he liked watching cute kids' movies. "Uh, sure. What's the movie?"

"Yay! Be right back!" Nanako chirped, spinning and dashing up the stairs. After another minute of rummaging, she reappeared with a new DVD case in her hand. As soon as Kanji saw the cover, all the vague excuses to leave that he'd been formulating wiped themselves from his mind.

"Happy Feet, huh?"


End file.
